Initiative releases 150 thousand fish in Sergipe state

Efforts to repopulate the São Francisco river with native species have not ceased. This weekend, the festivities for Bom Jesus dos Navegantes on the lower São Francisco river in Sergipe state had a special touch. A repopulation initiative released 150 thousand fish in three municipalities in the region.

On Saturday (Jan. 20), 50 thousand fingerlings and post-larvae of curimatã (Prochilodus lineatus), pacamã (Batrachoides surinamensis), and pitu shrimp (Macrobrachium carcinus) were released in Gararu. On Sunday (21), another 100 thousand fingerlings of the same species were released in Santana do São Francisco and Ilha das Flores, with each municipality receiving 50 thousand individuals.

Next Sunday (28), more fish are expected to be released in the municipality of Propriá, Sergipe, one of the northeastern states bathed by the river.

Carried out by the São Francisco and Parnaíba Valley Development Company (Codevasf) the plan aims to restore and maintain fish populations in the São Francisco basin.

The fish are released during the closed season, when fishing is prohibited,  to give the post-larvae and fry time to develop.

On Friday (19), the company released 30 thousand native fish in the Boacica dam, in Igreja Nova, Alagoas state. Around 18 thousand fingerlings of piau-verdadeiro (Leporinus elongatus) and 12 thousand of curimatã-pacu (Prochilodus argenteus) were placed in the reservoir.

Carried out to compensate for the damming of rivers in the São Francisco basin, the introduction of fry and post-larvae is necessary to preserve local fauna, as the dams prevent the fish from swimming upriver to reproduce.

In Sergipe, the fingerlings are produced at the Betume Integrated Fishing Resources and Aquaculture Center, in the municipality of Neópolis. In Alagoas, specimens are cultivated at the Itiúba Integrated Fishing and Aquaculture Resources Center, in Porto Real do Colégio.